discussion led by Evald Maceno, CIAM 6117 2015

1. MACENO, Evald
Graduate Student at UPR
September 9, 2015
Coastal Environment CIAM 6117
Professor: Loratta Roberson, P.h.D

2. Outline
 What is carbon?
 Physical and chemical properties
 Carbon as cycle
 Major reservoirs of carbon on the earth
 Components of carbon cycle
 Carbon distribution
 How carbon gets in the ocean
 Exchange process between the ocean and the atmosphre
 Mechanisms of carbon into the ocean
 Sequestration of carbon in the ocean
 Unexpected impact of human in the carbon cycle
 Effect of changing the carbon cycle
 Consequences and acidification of the ocean
 Discussion
 References

3. What is carbon?
 An element
 It has 6 as atomic number and 12.01115 as atomic mass
 It’s a latin word « carbo » meaning coal or charcoal
 Natural abundant non-metallic element that occurs in
many inorganic and all organic coumpounds

4. Physical and chemical properties of
carbon
 Melting Point: 3500.0 °C (3773.15 K, 6332.0 °F)
 Boiling point : 4827.0 °C (5100.15 K, 8720.6 °F)
 Density: 2.26 gram per cubic centimeter
 C as chemical formula
 Oxidation when it combines with 02 to produce CO2 and
CO
 Reactiviy
 Compounds: several million of compounds are known
 Ability to make long strings, or chains of atoms

5. Carbon as a cycle
 Carbon is transported through different component in our
environment
 Carbon is transported between living and non-living
components during the cycle
 Carbon cycle is considered as a biogeochemical cycle
when carbon is moving different components involve like:
biological interactions, geological activities and chemical
reactions
 Carbon is a vital nutients: fat, carbohydrates, proteins and
nucleic acid.

6. Reservoirs of carbon on the earth
 Carbon is found in several areas:
 Atmosphere ( CH4 and CO2)
 Biosphere (living and dead organisms)
 Lithosphere ( soil an rocks)
 Hydrosphere( oceans, rivers and lakes)

7. Major stores of carbon on the earth
Sink Amount in billons of Metric tons
Atmosphere 578 (as of 1700)- 766(as of 1999)
Soil organic matter 1500 to 1600
Ocean 38,000 to 40,000
Marine sediments and sedimentary
Rocks
66,000,000 to 100,000,000
Terrestrial Plants 540 to 610
Fossil Fuel Deposits 4000
: caserc.carleton.edu

8. Atmosphere
Surface Ocean
Deep Ocean
Sediments
CO2
CO2
CO2
∆pCO2 > 0
(primarily upwelling
regions)
∆pCO2 < 0
(primarily high latitudes)
CO2 + CO3
2- + H2O  2HCO3
-
Upwelling
and vertical mixing
Sinking particulate
organic matter
(“biological pump”)
CO2 + H2O  Organic Matter + O2
CO2 + CO3
2- + H2O  2HCO3
-
CO2 + H2O  Organic Matter + O2
Ca2+ + 2HCO3
2-  CaCO3 + CO2 + H2O
CO2
HCO3
-
Bottom water formation
(high latitudes)
(“solubility pump”)
Ca2+ + 2HCO3
2-  CaCO3 + CO2 + H2O
CO2 + H2O  Organic Matter + O2
Oceans are largest “active” reservoir in the carbon cycle – primarily DIC

9. The components of the carbon
cycle

10. carbon distribution in the ocean
The ocean carbon cycle. Image credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory

11. How carbon gets in the ocean
 First ,CO2 gets in the
ocean by diffusing into
the sea surface waters
and dissolving
 Chemical process
 the process depends on
variables: wind,
temperature of the
water, sea surface mixing
and co2 concentration AaAverage monthly co2 flux
http://serc.carleton.edu/eslabs/carbon/6a.html

12. Atmosphere – Ocean Exchange Processes
12
When CO2 enters sea water, the following chemical reactions take place:
CO2 dissolves in water
Carbonic acid
dissociates into ions
Bicarbonate dissociates
Net Reaction
Carbon thus occurs as several species in seawater:
CO2 gas, H2CO3, HCO3
-, and CO3
2-
)(3222 aqCOHOHCO
acidcarbonicliquidgas


 332 HCOHCOH
ebicarbonationhydrogenacidcarbonic

 3
2
3 HCOHCO
ebicarbonationhydrogencarbonate
3
2
3)(22 2HCOCOCOOH gas  

13. Carbon gets into the ocean in three
mechanisms
 The Physical carbon pump
 Biological carbon pump
 The Carbonate pump

14. The physical carbon pump
 Downwelling current
occur in cold and water
sink and bring dissolved
CO2 into deep ocean
 Upwelling bring deep cold
ocean water to the surface
 Dessolved can be released
to the atmosphere
http://serc.carleton.edu/eslabs/carbon/6a.html

15. Biological carbon pump
 Transforming carbon
compound into news
forms of carbon
compounds
 Moving carbon
throughout the ocean
 Source of oxygen
Simplified oceanic biological pump. Credit: TERC

16. The carbonate pump
 Transport carbon down to
deep ocean sediments.
 Facilitate shell-building by
organisms.
Ocean carbonate chemistry system
http://serc.carleton.edu/eslabs/carbon/6a.html

17. Sequestration of carbon in the ocean
 Three mains process to capture atmospheric carbon
dioxide (CO2) such as:
 Biological process
 Physical process
 Chemical process

18. Biological sequestration of carbon
in the ocean
Phytoplankton Biological pump
International weekly journal of science

19. How the process is happened
 Biological pump
 Phytoplankton as marine plant float in the photic zone for
photosyntesis
 They use photosynthesis to create their own food
 Some species of fish and zooplankton eat phytoplanktons
 Those organisms release carbon dioxide back to the water
and the atmosphere
 Dead phytoplankton go into sediment

20. Chemical sequestration of
carbon in the ocean
The process is done in form of mineral carbonation or
mineral sequestration.
Calcite crystal from the sweetwater, Mine Vilburnum
Trend District

21. Unexpected impact of human on the
carbon cycle
 According to the scientific resaerch made by Earth
Observatory/NASA, people have a serious impact in the
carbon cycle.
 Burning fossil fuels
 Land use
 Deforestation

22. Effect of changing the carbon cycle
 Ocean and plants have taken up 55% of the extra carbon
people put into the atmosphere
 The rest of 45% stays in the atmosphere
 Impact each reservoir
 Warm the planet
 Make the ocean more acid putting marine life in danger

23. NASA/earth observatory/article

24. Consequences according to NASA
article
 Earth temperature will increase at least another 0.6
degrees celicius( degree fahrenheit)
 Since 1750, the pH of the ocean’s surface is dropped to
0.1 to 30 percent change to in acidity.
 Warmer oceans
 Marine animals will have trouble to build their shell.
Effects of Changing the Carbon Cycle/
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov

25. Ocean acidification
Sources: skeptical science
Sssssssssssss
Annual variations in atmospheric co2, oceanic co2, and ocean surface pH.

26. Discussion questions
 Why is the ocean carbon cycle important to study? What is the
response time?
 How is the ocean carbon cycle affected by the climate change?
 How do anthropogenic activities affect the whole global carbon
cycle?
 How does the ocean carbon cycle compare with the terrestrial
carbon cycle?
 Do we think CO2 emission is significant in Porto Rico today?
 Will local changes in anthropogenic inputs impact the global
carbon cycle? Is there a local cycle?
 Who is responsible for doing this important work - individuals,
businesses, research institutions, governments, or........all of us?

27. references
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanic_carbon_cycle
 http://climatica.org.uk/climate-science-information/carbon-cycle
 http://www.indiana.edu/~geol105b/1425chap8.htm
 http://serc.carleton.edu/eslabs/carbon/6a.html
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_sequestration
 http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/climate_projects_05/productivity/ph
ytoplankton.html
 http://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/oceanography/ocean-earth-
system/ocean-carbon-cycle
 https://skepticalscience.com/ocean-acidification-global-warming-
intermediate.htm
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonate_minerals
 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/CarbonCycle/page5.php